When Our Son Jumped I Severed Our Bond

My mate, Alpha Damien, skipped our daughter's birthday. For the third time. All for his Omega mistress.

My son, Noah, thought his father never came home because he was disgusted with him, an omega cursed with soul-sickness.

He jumped from the attic window. Gone forever.

I held his broken body, his last words echoing in my head.

"I hope in my next life, I can be a strong Alpha. I won't disappoint Dad again."

At that moment, my wolf shattered.

I screamed for him through our mind link, but he slammed the door in my face, again and again.

"Clara's daughter is sick! A Fading Soul attack. I have to be here for her. Leave me alone!"

He severed the link coldly.

After Noah's funeral, I calmly accepted all his excuses.

Then, before the entire pack, I began the Rejection.

To sever our mate bond. Forever.

He only broke when he realized he was about to lose me for good.

He cried.

He pleaded that we were fated mates. That he never should have betrayed me.

Chapter 1

"Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?"

My daughter's voice tightened like a fist around my heart.

The birthday cake had been sitting on the table for three hours. Untouched.

My husband, Alpha Damien, had sworn he wouldn't miss Rori's birthday.

After all, Rori was his precious heir, the most promising new Alpha of her generation.

"He'll be back," I said.

But then my phone screen lit up.

A new post on the pack's social feed. From Clara.

It was a cozy selfie. Clara, smiling sweetly.

Damien, his gaze on her soft and gentle.

And in his arms, a sleeping little girl, Chloe.

"My dear Alpha, the most caring partner. Only his scent can calm my baby Chloe down."

My eyes burned as I stared at the screen. The picture was a knife in my gut.

Today was my daughter's birthday, but I had no right to demand he come home.

After all, he was with a sick child. A helpless woman who'd lost her wolf.

And me?

I was just his mate.

The one who'd shamed him with an Omega son.

Yesterday, as Damien was rushing to change his clothes, I reminded him, "Tomorrow is Rori's birthday."

"I'll try to make it back." He didn't even look up.

Try.

The same casual cruelty he always showed Noah.

Our son. The boy labeled an Omega at birth. The ultimate humiliation for Alpha Damien

Earlier, Noah had run downstairs, clutching Damien's jacket. "Mommy, is Daddy really coming home today?"

"Yes, sweetie." Another lie.

He held that jacket like it was sacred.

It was the only way he could feel close to his father.

My children still craved his love, even when he pushed them away.

The silence snapped me back to reality.

It was too quiet.

Where was Noah? He should have been here by now, storybook in hand, ready for me to read him to sleep.

I went upstairs to check on him. My sweet boy.

The moment I pushed his door open, my wolf went wild.

The attic window gaped open, spilling cold wind into the room.

Damien's jacket lay on the floor, folded perfectly. A final offering.

Next to it was a crayon drawing in his childish scrawl. A picture of the four of us.

"Mommy, I'm sorry. I hope in my next life, I can be a strong Alpha. Then Daddy won't be disappointed in me anymore."

Then, a sickening thud from outside.

A pain that wasn't mine shot through my chest.

I ran downstairs like a madwoman.

There, in the moonlight, I saw his small body.

My son, lying in a pool of blood, his eyes still looking up at the moon.

"No... no, no, no..."

As I knelt beside him, my White Moon Wolf howled in despair.

My wolf shattered.

I closed my eyes and reached for Damien with the last of my strength.

"Damien... our son..."

A wall of ice slammed down in my mind. He'd locked me out.

"Something happened to Noah... He's..."

His voice cut through the bond, cold and sharp. "Chloe's Fading Soul is acting up. I can't leave her. For once in your life, Seraphina, handle it!"

Then, the link was severed.

I opened my eyes and looked at my son's cold body in my arms.

My Alpha chose another's child over his own.

And our son, the Omega he called a disgrace, was gone forever.

"Mommy?" Rori appeared at the door, her eyes fixed on the blood.

She fell to her knees beside me, crying. Her small hand stroked Noah's face. "Mommy, what's wrong with Noah? Is he sleeping? Why is there so much blood?"

Chapter 2

I pulled Rori into my arms and wept.

How could I explain this?

The father she and Noah loved so much didn't care about them anymore.

The memorial was three days later, as was pack tradition.

I held a picture of Noah. Rori gripped my hand tightly.

Damien still hadn't shown up.

Pack members started whispering. "Where's the Alpha?" "His cub is dead. Where is he?"

Footsteps. Damien finally appeared, looking exhausted. He reeked of her. Of Clara's cloying jasmine scent. It made me want to gag.

"Seraphina..." He opened his arms.

I almost ran to him, but Rori tugged on my dress.

The warning in her eyes brought me back to my senses.

"You're here."

"Chloe's Fading Sickness flared up again. I almost lost her," he said, his voice empty of grief for our son.

A hollow voice, mine, replied, "You should have been here."

Throughout the service, Damien was distracted.

His phone kept buzzing.

Every time he glanced at it, his brow furrowed.

Finally, it rang. He answered immediately. "Clara? She has a fever again? Okay, I'll be right there."

He hung up and turned to me. "I have to go. Chloe needs me."

"Damien... can you please stay with us tonight?" I heard my own numb voice.

"Seraphina." His Alpha command slammed into me. "Get your priorities straight. Chloe's Fading Sickness could kill her. You and Rori are strong. You'll survive."

My heart went cold and still.

Chloe had Fading Soul, just like Noah did. Why didn't he care about our son?!

What right did he have to be a father?

Before I could snarl, the pack elders were already staring at him in disbelief.

"What did you just say?"

"You should understand, Seraphina," he said, his eyes cold. "Noah was weak. His fate was sealed the day he was born an Omega. At least this way, I can save one of them."

Weak.

He wasn't talking about the illness.

He was talking about Noah being an Omega.

My son was dead, and in his eyes, it was just the inevitable culling of the weak.

"I don't understand," I said, staring straight into his eyes. "I don't understand why someone else's child is more important than your own."

The mate bond trembled, warning me. I didn't care anymore.

"I, Seraphina Blackwood, in the name of the Moon Goddess... I reject you, Damien Blackwood, as my mate!"

A searing pain ripped through my soul.

It felt like my heart was being torn from my chest. My vision went black.

But at the same time, the suffocating bond was gone.

Damien stared at me in shock, then shook his head with a sneer. "Noah is dead, and you pull a stunt like this? You think a useless woman with a shattered wolf can survive without me?"

Chapter 3

I struggled to my feet. "Threaten you?"

For the first time, his Alpha command had no power over me.

I met his glare without flinching.

"If you want to leave, I won't stop you," Damien said coldly. "But don't expect your tears to change anything. I have a duty to Clara and her daughter."

Elder Edmond stepped forward. "Alpha, please explain yourself."

Damien stood tall. "Eight years ago, I was on a secret mission to wipe out the remnants of the Red Moon cult. I was ambushed. Clara Vance saved my life."

He paused, his voice heavy with pain.

"She took a silver blade for me. It pierced her wolf's heart. Shattered her on the spot."

Murmurs of sympathy spread through the pack.

Losing your wolf was a fate worse than death.

"Clara saved my life and lost everything. Her daughter, Chloe, has Fading Sickness. Only my scent can stabilize her. If I'm not there, she'll die. Just like Noah."

Tears streamed down my face.

Lost her wolf.

My own wolf shattered from the grief of losing Noah, and he didn't care.

He only cared about Clara. That damn Omega...

Damien walked toward me. "I need you to understand. This isn't betrayal. It's a responsibility."

Just then, his phone buzzed.

I glanced down.

The message on the screen stared back at me.

Sent the night Noah died.

"Damien, can you stay with me tonight? Chloe's asleep, and I'm so scared to be alone."

At the exact moment I was screaming for Noah's death.

Noah's burial was the next day.

I waited for Damien at the Moonshadow Cemetery.

The ceremony was about to start, and he was still a no-show.

A white car pulled up. Clara and Chloe got out.

Clara walked up to me. "Seraphina, I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't be here, but Noah was such a sweet boy..."

Chloe, however, was looking around wildly. "Where's Daddy?" she yelled. "Where's Daddy Damien?"

The entire cemetery fell silent.

Everyone looked from Chloe to me.

Just then, Damien's car appeared.

He got out, and the moment he saw Chloe, his expression softened.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?"

"Daddy!" Chloe ran to Damien, and he immediately knelt to hug her.

It was a tenderness he had never once shown Noah.

The elder began the rites, but Chloe clung to Damien's hand the whole time.

She didn't even notice Rori crying silently beside me.

After the ceremony, Clara approached me, her voice a low hiss only I could hear. "Seraphina, I'm so sorry. But Damien has no choice. Chloe needs a father's love to survive."

The irony. What about his actual children? Didn't we need a father's love?

After we returned from the funeral, Damien cornered me in the bedroom.

"About today. Your behavior in front of the pack was very disappointing."

I stared at him, my eyes red and raw.

"Now, I want you to revoke that stupid Rejection Ceremony." His Alpha command hit me like a tidal wave.

But nothing happened.

I just stood there, calming the storm inside me.

"No," I said softly.

Damien froze. "What?"

"I said no. I will not revoke the rejection."

Damien snapped. "How dare you? I am Damien Blackwood! I am your Alpha!"

I watched him silently.

"Damien, Noah is dead."

"Don't you dare use Noah against me!" he roared. "His death had nothing to do with me! I was saving a life! What were you doing? Crying? Complaining?"

"You're right," I nodded. "I did nothing."

My calmness only enraged him more.

"Since you know what your problem is, then fix it! Support me like a real Luna should!"

"Support you in what?" I asked. "Support you while you let another woman's child call you Daddy?"

"Chloe is sick! She needs a father figure! Rori still has you. Chloe only has me."

"Damien, do you love Clara?"

He froze. "No... It's a responsibility."

"Then do you love me?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

I turned to leave. Damien grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

"The guest room."

He finally snapped. "You think this little ceremony changes anything? Fine. Keep up this pathetic tantrum, and I'll move Chloe into this house myself! I'll put her in Noah's room. I'll erase every trace of our family's disgrace."

My heart seized. "You wouldn't."

Seeing my fear, a smug look flashed in his eyes. "Try me. Keep acting out, and see if I don't."